Tuesday, May 24, 2011

2011 Topps Heritage #72 Jimmy Rollins/Chase Utley

Phillies 10, Reds 3Game 47 - Monday Night, May 23rd in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary: On the night Chase Utley made his 2011 debut, the Phillies found their bats and defeated the Reds, 10-3.

What It Means: Through the first three innings of last night's game, the Phillies were averaging 27 runs a game in all of Utley's 2011 starts. The team is now 29-18 with a two game lead over the Marlins.

What Went Right: The largest regular season crowd in Citizens Bank Park history (45,841) came to its feet for a lengthy standing ovation when Utley approached the plate in the bottom of the first. Thanks to a two-run home run from Placido Polanco in the top of the inning, the Phils already held a 2-0 lead. They would pad the lead with Jimmy Rollins' 3-run home run in the third. When it was all over, the Phils had belted out 14 hits and their offensive struggles were temporarily (hopefully permanently?) history.

Raul Ibanez continued his hot May going 2 for 3 with a solo home run and he added an awesome leaping catch in left field to boot. Cole Hamels (6-2) served up another quality start, giving up five hits and three runs in his six innings of work.

Featured Card: There's been no reason to feature this 2011 Topps Heritage card in a game summary post until now. Even though Utley went 0 for 5 with a strikeout in his return, it's great to finally see the Rollins/Utley duo back together on the field.

Other Stuff:The Writer's Journey had a different take on the game. JT has been posting game summary cards for the Reds since the beginning of the season, so I'll link to his cards following each game of this Phillies-Reds series.